Steve and Elise

A big day...

2010-06-17T05:59:00.003-04:00

Elise's birthday is today.

Also, the kids turned one the other day. We got some great pictures of them smeared all up with cake. I put them on Facebook, but I need to move them to Flickr so we can all see them.

We need to make more of an effort to post here, we both know that. More to come.

Fisher Vids

2010-03-21T07:52:00.000-04:00

February 8th

2010-02-08T05:49:00.003-05:00

Good Morning!

So, last week I turned 41. I expected it to be one of those "nothing" birthdays, since (a) 41 is hardly an interesting benchmark, and (b) the kids have really captured the spotlight around here, as it should be. But Elise had other plans, and set things in motion so that I could have a pretty wonderful birthday, and really, birth-week.

In the past few months since the México trip, I've been doing a few things around here. First, is that I recorded and produced my first full-length record album, Shabbat Rocks -- a Jewish kids' record. It's selling well, has almost paid for itself. Second, I've been teaching myself to code on Android phones (that's Google's phone system.) That one's a lot of fun, but hampered somewhat since I don't have an Android device. Third, I've been building some embedded devices, putting an Arduino microcontroller to work controlling some sophisticated lights. And I've still been doing a little paying work here and there for the Mansell Group, who bought the old Accucast business from PGS.

And spending a lot of time with the kids as they grow up. Meredith is almost at a crawl -- she rolls over and over to cover the distance. Fisher isn't going to crawl before he walks, probably. When he's on his belly, the only trick he knows is to roll over to his back.

New Year's Thoughts

2010-01-03T20:55:00.005-05:00

Supposedly Joseph Campbell said, "We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

This pretty much sums up 2009, and should probably become my mantra for the next several. I think there is great merit in planning though, and I will continue to plan my choral rehearsals. (And our new Sparks family giant wall calendar will keep important dates and appointments in 2010.)

However, in life the best things that have happened to me have not been planned. Fisher and Meredith weren't "planned" per se. Being older and over-busy, I had planned that it would take a bit longer to happen. And I sure didn't plan on twins. In fact, that whole concept had never entered my mind.

I didn't plan on directing a college choir; that happened almost by accident, too. And I didn't really plan to do it for very long, but it seems to be steady work for the immediate future.

I planned on having my dissertation done prior to this year... But then again, GSU needed someone to give an assistantship to, and it is serendipity that I was still unfinished and there to receive it.

It was also quite unplanned that I am not officially back working at church. This is surely the longest maternity/academic leave that a part-time employer has ever tolerated. I hadn't planned to receive such grace from my pastor or choir.

And so it goes. I'll leave 2010 quite open to whatever is waiting. Considered as a whole, I--like George Bailey--have a wonderful life. It is quite better than I ever could have planned.

Mexico

2009-12-10T18:11:00.002-05:00

I'm on my parents' Windows laptop. It doesn't have a simple, Mac-like facility for putting the accent on the 'e' in Mexico. Grumble.

So, the family is down here in Mazanillo at an all-inclusive resort. If you've never been to one, you pay one price on arrival, and all food and drinks are included. Well, maybe not all. The first day, I ordered Jack on the rocks, and was asked to pay 35 pesos ($3). The next day I went into town and bought a bottle of Jack for 267 pesos ($24). No problema!

But each morning we wake up, tend to the kids, go to breakfast, and then hang out in the pool. We have little floating boats for the kids to sit in. They both like it, though they're a bit sensitive to the cold. Some lunch, afternoon naps, and then a nice dinner. Pretty relaxing.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T07:45:00.004-05:00

You can't make it out, but Elise's shirt says "this time: TRIPLETS!" which was the scariest thing she could think of.

3 years

2009-10-04T10:11:00.002-04:00

So this week, Steve and I are celebrating our third anniversary of meeting each other. (Oct. 1--first email, Oct 3--first date, etc.) We've packed a lot into a few years.

I can honestly say that despite his hundred or so frustrating habits, I love my husband now more than I ever have. And despite my equally frustrating hundred or so habits, he still loves me, too.

We celebrated by going to our favorite Italian place for dinner Friday night, where the owner took Meredith and held her while he sat people at tables and chatted up other guests. She was the hit of the place. Fisher slept through this entire event.

Now we are going on our first "full unit" outing. That is, to the coffee house/dog park in the Flame-mobile with the Sparks Five. Steve is recovering from his biggest BBQ gig to date, and we are all a little worn out. But happy.

Goin' Mobile

2009-09-28T07:09:00.003-04:00

Going Mobile - The Who

We've been taking the kids out a bit here and there. Here we see the babes ready for brunch yesterday. We took them to Calavino's, a brunch place we like. Here is Calavino, and her partner Doria, holding a sleepy Fisher (who they keep calling "Fitch".)

And here's a picture of Meredith checking out the lattice work at Holy Taco.

The Trifecta

2009-09-26T08:11:00.003-04:00

They say the three most stressful things one can do are (a) move, (b) add or lose a family member, and (c) change careers. You've watched on this blog as we built a house, moved, and added two family members. Well, Wednesday, I left Premiere. I've completed the trifecta. Do I get a prize?

Obviously there's a lot to say about the situation that led to my leaving, but I think I'm going to let time and distance have their effect before getting too much into it. But Premiere was VERY generous in their severance, and there are other people who want some part-time help with a few things, so the net result is that I will get to spend this holiday season with my new family. I'm tremendously happy about that!

I also want to start a venture, so stay tuned on that one.

Love and kisses! It's a great day!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-04T04:04:00.002-04:00

Here's to LABOR UNIONS!

Around, say, 1870, work sucked. Six or seven days a week, twelve hours a day, horrible conditions, etc., etc., etc. Bosses could fire for no reason; workers had no power at all, and bosses routinely abused the situation. Over about a hundred years, the unionization of America fixed those ills and for the most part, the workplace in America is much better for their efforts. We got Saturdays off, too.

But we also got the spare day, once a year, tacked onto the end of this weekend. Woot! Our first family holiday together, we've got Elise's brother John and his whole family, plus Elise's mom. We'll be throwin' down some ribs and chicken and steaks and burgers.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day!

Kids update: All is well, nothing really to report. They're focusing much better these days, but still they're mostly scream machines.

Have a Swingin' Sunday Mornin'!

2009-08-30T08:02:00.000-04:00

So sayeth The Meredith.

They are growing!

2009-08-21T17:43:00.002-04:00

I sort of thought that they were getting heavier, and Meredith's legs seemed to be getting chubbier. When we went to the pediatrician yesterday, the scale told the tale:

Meredith: 8 lbs., 12 oz.; 20.9 inches long; 13.7 inch head
Fisher: 8 lbs., 9 oz.; 21.3 inches long; 14.9 inch head

So Meredith's bigger, but Fisher has the big head. They also got their first round of shots. That wasn't fun for anyone in the room. Meredith's cries invite more pity, but Fisher's cries (though short-lived) could wake the dead!

We have the best pediatrician imaginable. Three cheers for Dr. Sells!

All's well

2009-08-19T19:23:00.002-04:00

Apologies for the lack of updates. We're all doing stuff like juggling babies a lot of the time.

I posted some pictures up on the Flickr site. Below are some of the best ones, click through to the photostream:

Elise calls me the 'Pied Piper' because I can usually calm them down pretty quickly. So we see scenes like this when they're both fussing.

This one, the light was funny, so I snapped the picture.

A montage of sadness:

All the parents are gone.

2009-08-04T20:14:00.002-04:00

One one hand, that really feels great. For the first time tonight this house will be OURS, just Elise's and mine, and our children and the pup. And that's something we're both very excited about. Symbolic, but no less important for it.

But on the other, now we're sinking or swimming on our own. That's a bit of a scary prospect. Not because I think we have a chance of failure, but because we really can't hand a screaming baby off to a grandmother who has the magical power to chill a baby out. So tonight we might get pretty pissy, y'know?

For the moment, I'm enjoying being in my house with my family. It's a sweet moment indeed.

My parents are here

2009-07-25T21:14:00.005-04:00

and they are enjoying their time with Fisher and Meredith. Dad and I built a little gate for the back porch which keeps Jilly from escaping. And Mom put together a little video while she waited to come see the kids. It's great!

Meredith is already standing up to The Man

2009-07-19T04:25:00.001-04:00

... and then telling him what she thinks!

He is obviously listening closely to her input.

The Whole Family Is Here

2009-07-13T23:58:00.002-04:00

Fisher came home today.

"You stay off my half, Fisher!"

I've uploaded a bunch of pictures to my Flickr stream. Some are real gems, such as this picture of Meredith just after I snapped her into the car (she's thinking "What is this stuff?")

Darlin' Daughter's Turn

2009-07-05T15:40:00.002-04:00

Meredith is home!

2009-07-05T13:01:00.001-04:00

Pics and videos to come soon.

A quick update...

2009-07-03T21:22:00.003-04:00

... or, rather, another quick update.

Some of my friends have put together a meal calendar for us. Very nice of them, and the few meals we've had so far have been wonderful.

Fisher has sort of stalled a little at the hospital. Seems he's so relaxed that he forgets he's eating and tries to breathe, or falls asleep, or whatnot. Meredith, on the other hand, is coming along so well that the doctors have told us to come with a baby seat, we're going to need it soon.

The house is really coming along well too. Elise's mom has been tireless in her unpacking.

A new update

2009-06-29T06:34:00.002-04:00

So, we moved into our house a couple weeks ago. Elise's mom, Elise and I have been unpacking the house (with occasional help from various other sources, including my Dad who flew in for a week) and it's beginning to feel more established. A few pictures are beginning to go up on walls.

Fisher should be home mid-week this week. He's doing really well, looks good. As you can see in the video, he's pretty much a normal infant now. Meredith is a little behind in her weight gain, but she'll be along very soon. It's all coming along well.

A video of Fisher

2009-06-28T20:43:00.001-04:00

Fisher's doing well. Here he is playing around with Daddy and Aunt Sally.

Daddy and Meredith

2009-06-17T23:25:00.001-04:00

When Elise said she got to see Daddy's heart stolen by a new girl, this was the scene she was talking about.

A Birthday Blogpost

2009-06-17T21:25:00.003-04:00

I just spent my 35th birthday at Piedmont Hospital, and have lots to be thankful for.

Every time a baby is born here, some chimes play a few measures of "Turn, turn, turn" by the Byrds. So I woke up reflecting on my own June 17 early morning birthday, and my husband greeted me almost immediately with a yummy breakfast from the outside world. We spent some GREAT family time together with the babes twice. I got to witness daddy's heart being stolen by a new girl as he held Meredith for the first time.

My parents came with balloons, cake, and gifts. The nursing staff joined the family in serenading me with another small cake--compliments of Piedmont Hospital. Mom very proudly remarked that 35 years ago today, she was the one in the bed! It was fun having her take care of me today. Hopefully I will be able to do the same for Meredith one day, when time will "turn, turn, turn" to the next generation. It is a pretty awesome thing to realize your place in the cosmos like this.

I must give a shout out to all the nurses and practitioners who have cared for me at Piedmont. I hadn't ever given much thought to what nurses do, but it's incredible. A couple of times I was sure that I was on the way to meet my Maker. How powerful it was to suddenly have a team of seven or so lovely women at your bedside poised and ready to perform even the most unlovely of tasks. They were so vigilant, caring, and personable. They even help you through random fits of crying at lonely hours. Of course it's easy to revere doctors--OBs, anesthesiologists, and neonatal specialists. But nurses are truly incredible people. Actually, a NICU nurse gets the birthday surprise prize. When I went to visit Fisher and Meredith at 5:00, they (she) had left me a "Mommy, we love you!!! Happy Birthday!" card in one of their heated isolettes. It was signed with both pairs of their tiny, sweet footprints. I was instantly brought to tears. What a bummer to not have been able to gestate the twins any longer, but Meredith and Fisher are so lucky to have the NICU nurses to finish out the last trimester with skill and grace.

By the way, Meredith and her mom are both thankful for the gift of blood. I've not given enough in my lifetime, but realize now how valuable it is. It helped save her life and reboot my own.

Steve's dad has come to visit from Santa Fe. He's here to help get the house in working order and to keep Steve out of the Looney Bin, as that is my rightful place in our relationship. So tonight Sid got to begin the epic spoilage of his 3rd grandson, with the NICU nurse letting him stay way past visiting hours to hold Fisher and feed his 21 ml's of dinner! We practically had to drag him out of the NICU, which was another birthday present to me. I never had a grandfather, but these newbies have already gotten to be held by two of the best.

Then dinner from the outside, compliments of my husband, Candice, and all the wonderful team at Capozzi's (my culinary refuge). And from my doctor, a final dosage of birthday Percocet and an Ambien. It's true--I won't get too many good nights of sleep this year, but I'm positive it will be worth it.

Also, random thanks for wonderful blessings (large and small) that I've discovered anew this week: laughing, walking, hot showers, compassionate aunts, friends that pack and feed you, flowers, and the determination of life and the human body.

A time for sleep.

Auntie Candi

2009-06-14T08:15:00.004-04:00

Candice is a woman I went to college with. She is in the movie business in New York, and has spent the majority of her life there. She spent a stint living in London. She's compassionate, smart, tough as nails, and has a great nose for bullshit and no reservations about calling it what it is.

Friday, when Elise told me "tomorrow is the day", I dropped Candice an IM with the news. She was just thinking that she'd love to come down when they're due next month, and was hoping she wouldn't be working when it came. Since she's between gigs right now, she packed a bag and headed to JFK.

The Atlanta weather had other ideas, and Candice ended up getting unceremoniously dumped in Columbia, SC. She and a few fellow passengers rented a car and raced through the night to ATL, and at 5AM I picked her up at a gas station out in the suburbs.

A few hours later, here she is chatting with Elise, before Elise goes in to deliver.

She is going to help me pull off this move. Thanks, Candice, you always come through in the pinch.

The family has grown!

2009-06-13T17:19:00.002-04:00

And here they are.

Meredith Jane Sparks. 3lb 8oz. 6/13/09 11:03am.

Fisher Benjamin Sparks. 3lb 11oz. 6/13/09 11:05am.

C O Issued

2009-06-08T12:58:00.001-04:00

We have a Certificate of Occupancy. It's legal for us to move into the house.

YAAAAAY!!!! I can't even express how happy that makes me. We have a new home!

Back to packin'.

New Pictures (interior colors)

2009-06-03T21:26:00.002-04:00

So the house is just about done. Yesterday I went by and we had sod. This morning they were finishing the carpet and staining/sealing the deck. Here are the internal colors. The "neutral" colors are a sort of butter color and a sand color. We aren't picturing either of these here. But the main room with the drop projector screen has a red color to it:

The kids room is a bright blue-green, almost aquamarine; and the office and our bedroom is a deep chocolate brown. Here they are:

Jilly is taking right to the new house. Here she is digging a little bed in the pine straw.

Interior colors are done

2009-05-27T21:35:00.002-04:00

No pictures, but it's gorgeous. We'll have pictures soon.

Really, everything's done but a couple inspections, then we have a walkthrough and point out the little fixes... and that's the game.

Tile with Grout

2009-05-25T14:03:00.001-04:00

Kitchen Backsplash

2009-05-23T10:41:00.003-04:00

Read the following post as if you were this guy.

Tile!

TILE!

TILE!!!

Let There Be Light

2009-05-19T23:23:00.002-04:00

(first family photo in the new house)

and exterior color!

A banister for the staircase!

With lights in the shower, we can see what the tile should look like:

More Progress

2009-05-18T09:49:00.001-04:00

Driveway!

Walkway!

Stoop!

Doggie door (below the color swatches)!

Fixtures with running water!!

More Progress

2009-05-14T11:07:00.001-04:00

We have some landscaping!!

They did all the priming, too, so things like the mantel are all cleaned up now.

A quick dose of politics

2009-05-07T15:02:00.002-04:00

Today is the National Day of Prayer. The right wing is angry that Obama isn't holding a power luncheon for evangelical Christians the way that Bush did. To those people I shall quote the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6:

⁵"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

ie. Stick it.

The trim is nearly done...

2009-05-07T08:22:00.001-04:00

... and looks fantastic.

We also got tile in the downstairs bathroom.

Trim and Floors!

2009-05-05T21:14:00.001-04:00

Northport Classic Homes

2009-05-05T11:17:00.003-04:00

There's no amount of superlatives that we're able to apply to our builder, Northport Classic Homes. All our whole lives, we've heard nothing but horror stories, from both homeowners and contractors, about the pain of doing a renovation project. We've heard all about how terribly slow it goes, how everything jumps in expense, how difficult the process is. And in the software world, there's an axiom: "Good, Fast, Cheap. Pick any two."

Well, along comes Northport, in the person of Phillip Pettis. More than any other builder he was passionately aware of our frustration, and took great pains to put us at ease. Their references and letters of recommendation were glowing. Confidently, we hired them. They promised us dates for construction that were fairly aggressive. Their price was very fair, right down the middle.

At first we were held up by the permitting process. It took almost five weeks to get the permit. While we were all agonizing over this situation, Phillip and his project manager, Ford Hoke, were also lining everything up with all the subcontractors and whatnot. When we finally received the permit, they tore the house down that afternoon and began immediately.

As you've been following on the blog, it's happening FAST. What might not be so clear is the incredible level of detail and quality of components that they're using. Every part is the best part available today, put in correctly with craftsmanship and care. For the few changes we've had to request, they've been easily accommodated¹.

So if you have a renovation or new construction project brewing, consider these guys. They're just fantastic.

1. The biggest one was Elise upgrading to the super-king-mega jacuzzi tub, the expense of which will pay for itself roughly three seconds after she first sits down in it.

Cabinets!

2009-04-30T00:28:00.003-04:00

The upstairs bathroom cabinets are complete:

The kitchen cabinets will be finished tomorrow.

And the bookshelves in the living room:

We also have tile in the master bath. Elise didn't like the picture so I stripped it. There's tile in the other upstairs bathroom too. This picture doesn't do the irridescence justice.

Tour of the House

2009-04-22T00:16:00.001-04:00

The Deck

2009-04-19T22:29:00.003-04:00

Trying to give you a sense of the size of this deck. It's the area shown in red and green below:

Here's the view from the lower left corner of the screened porch:

looking back at the house from the upper left corner of the deck:

Here's the passageway (the tight part of the green section):

The deck is VERY high up. This picture shows the support poles and the original "swing" deck:

Drywall!

2009-04-19T11:57:00.001-04:00

E and I stopped by yesterday and they were well underway with the drywalling. Woooo!

Work Continues Apace

2009-04-18T14:15:00.003-04:00

After a series of inspections this week, they are ready to begin the next phase of construction, starting with insulation:

Drywall is loaded into the house, but as of last night, they hadn't put any up.

I took pictures of the views left and right from my office:

Little updates..

2009-04-13T09:59:00.002-04:00

We went by this weekend and they had installed the deck poles. The deck is noticeably more stable now. They also put the ceiling in the screened porch.

Half done!

2009-04-09T15:51:00.001-04:00

Today they're finishing the siding, making the house half done. Here's a picture from the back porch of the sunroom in our bedroom:

And they delivered the poles which will hold up the deck.

Not much to report...

2009-04-08T07:42:00.002-04:00

the house is about half sided, and this week we're supposed to have inspections by the county, followed by another flurry of construction.

I don't have a picture handy...

2009-04-01T12:47:00.001-04:00

... but the inside of the house is all wired out and the outside is wrapped. Windows are in. Siding soon -- it's rainy so they hadn't sided it as of last night.

Major progress!

2009-03-25T23:15:00.004-04:00

So! The house is beginning to look like a house.

With a deck!

From this deck, I can almost reach out and touch the top of the swing. It's perhaps a foot too far.

And, pictures of our babies, head and toe.

Mother is doing pretty well. She's tired a lot. Dad's doing his best to help her out. The house moving forward is helping a lot. We both feel pretty excited about the progress there. Our builder seems pretty incredible.

Much Progress!

2009-03-19T00:41:00.001-04:00

This is roughly 14 hours into framing. These guys are fast!

The rock and roll corner.

This is the view from the master bathroom. Well. The eventual master bathroom.

Perhaps the most terrifying story I've ever read

2009-03-10T14:23:00.002-04:00

Here's a link to the discussion page for the article, not the article itself. It's a Washington Post story about the poor souls who forgot their child in the back seat of the car. I was in tears by page three. In many ways the comment page is equally saddening and terrifying. Read if you wish.

It's coming...

2009-03-09T09:03:00.002-04:00

So, over at Fairway Hill, they've built up the foundation with another row or two of cinderblocks ("CMUs", or Concrete Masonry Units) and this week they're supposed to be framing. It should really begin to take shape this week.

Elise's mom is visiting; this weekend we went to a massive consignment sale held by the North Fulton Mothers of Multiples Club. We got strollers, car seats, and a bunch of other baby stuff. Parenthood rapidly approaches!

More pictures soon.

Jilly, enjoying the snow

2009-03-01T22:54:00.000-05:00

The Old House Is Gone

2009-02-28T17:51:00.001-05:00

Back from Las Vegas

2009-02-15T00:19:00.003-05:00

Elise and I just came from Las Vegas. We'd gone out there for my cousin's wedding. I played a lot of three card poker and did pretty well. The wedding was awesome, and we had a grand time hanging out with that segment of the family. It was great fun.

I griped about the coffee a lot. There was Charbucks, Dunkin, McDonalds, etc., around, and then I spied a Krispy Kreme. When the topic came up I said of all the coffee on the Fremont strip, the Krispy Kreme was what I'd recommend. So this morning, Elise's valentine gift to me was a cup of KK "Rich" coffee. It was perfect! Yum.

Since I'd come out ahead on the trip, my gift to her was springing for first class upgrades for the flight back. She got the pregnant mom treatment from the flight attendants and had a great time. She'd had a particularly crappy flight out, so the improvement seemed particularly extreme. She loved it.

On This Day 200 Years Ago

2009-02-12T11:49:00.002-05:00

Two great men were born.

The first, Abraham Lincoln, is nearly universally recognized in the USA and elsewhere as a great, great man. He kept the young republic from fracturing, and along the way abolished slavery.

The second, Charles Darwin, is not nearly as universally recognized as a great man. Yet what he wrote in Origin of Species has had a far deeper and more powerful effect on our world than what Lincoln did. Darwin's essential insight allowed us to see more clearly the evolutionary connections between the creatures of our world. The signs of evolution are everywhere for those who will look.

Both of these men shared an essential humility, a great regard for human nature, and a deep sense of humor.

Happy Birthday, Gentlemen.

Transitions

2009-01-30T22:56:00.003-05:00

Wednesday I signed on all the paperwork to get the renovation started on the house. Except, it's not really a renovation.

Those of you who've been to my house, envision it for a second: it's a wood, one-story house on top of a cinderblock basement. Well, the plan is to strip it down to the cinderblocks, and build a new, two-story house on top of it. From 1000sqft+basement to 2300sqft+basement+deck. You can download a PDF of the plans here.

"You will move into your new home on the morning of Saturday, June 6, 2009."

It will give us just over a month to get moved in and settled in before Elise gives birth to twins.

Transitions? I got 'em, baby, in SPADES.

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-01T02:03:00.000-05:00

Here's to a 2009 filled with lots of moments of joy.

Seasons Greetings from Steve and Elise

2008-12-25T13:31:00.001-05:00

This is just some text, no funny picture!

2008 has been an amazing year for us personally, with our wedding and honeymoon. We don't need presents -- this year's been full of them. We really just want to make sure all our friends and family know how much we love them.

We wish for you all the health and happiness 2009 can bring!

Merry Christmas,
Steve and Elise

ps. Good news! January 20th at noon, they take the nuclear button away from Bush.

Season's Greetings from Jilly

2008-12-24T07:17:00.001-05:00

On the other hand...

2008-12-17T15:43:00.001-05:00

This video shows a NYPD officer body-checking a cyclist during a "critical mass" ride:

Good thing this video exists. Why? Because the cops (a) dismissed his complaint against the officer, and (b) filed charges against the cyclist for obstructing traffic, and said he steered his bike into the officer.

To be as generous as possible, let's say the video doesn't support the claims of the cops. Well, good news. Officer Pogan has been indicted (though "of what" is not clear.)

But there's a broader point to be made here. Our dear Mr. Pogan body-checked that cyclist because he was certain he had the authority to get away with it. The authority to override the eyewitness accounts of everyone else on the scene. And were it not for this video, Mr. Pogan might have gotten away with it.

This is why authority must be challenged and checked at every step along the way.

Laugh of the Day

2008-12-16T18:24:00.000-05:00

from The Onion.

Rock!

2008-12-12T17:28:00.001-05:00

Last night I went to see Johnny Winter at Smith's Olde Bar with a coworker. Johnny's a hot player, but he's so old and frail that he played sitting down. So after three or four songs, I was done.

However, opening for him was a band, "BlackJack", that was comprised of four kids aged maybe twelve to fourteen. It was a little rough -- their chording of "Sweet Child o' Mine" was wrong, and the guitarist needs to get an amp that sounds better so he can turn it down. (Johnny's tone was sweet, sweet screaming at half the volume.) But the frontman, er, frontkid was great and the drummer was pretty solid. I imagine in a few years they'll get a better name, better gear, some of their own songs, and find some solid success.

They're on tour with Johnny Winter, they gotta make a contact or two out of that.

Anyway here's a bad iPhone picture of them from the back of the hall.

Beneficial

2008-12-11T08:01:00.001-05:00

Johnny Rocker, a bartender at the Flatiron, fell off a ladder some weeks ago and cracked his skull and his cheekbone. Last night they held a benefit for him, and I bought $20 in raffle tickets (10 @ $2.) My friend Rebecca handed me her tickets as she left, so I had around twenty tickets for the raffle.

I won and won big. I walked away with:

- Two giveaway kits from Bath and Body Works
- A $50 gift certificate to 13 Roses Tattoo (I just don't know about getting a tat...)
- A $25 gift certificate to The Gravity Pub
- A gift certificate for one hour of massage
- A gift certificate for two tickets to a comedy show

There was still one round of raffle stuff remaining but I didn't stick around. I handed the rest of my tickets to a woman at the bar and took my loot home.

Funny

2008-12-03T12:48:00.001-05:00

A star-studded musical number about Proposition 8.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Jim Martin for Senate

2008-11-24T11:53:00.000-05:00

Last night Elise and I went with Bryan and Deneta to a cocktail party fundraiser for Jim Martin. The guest of honor was Al Gore, and he made some quick remarks on behalf of Jim. I enjoyed my first little foray into real party politics.

Despite what Rush Limbaugh says, Al Gore looks pretty normal. Getting a little jowly.

Anyway, I'm hollering out for everyone to vote in the runoff election, and vote out that ~~filthy lying scumbag sonofa~~ incumbent Republican, Saxby Chambliss, by pulling the lever for Jim Martin. Lately Saxby's goons have been running ads about Jim Martin being soft on crime. I wish I could say this was a new low, but by now it's just a routine low.

Elise says she doesn't have a whole lot of faith that Georgians are aware enough of the Saxby Swindle to send him packing. Please prove her wrong. Vote either on or before December 2, but not both. :)

Big Weekend

2008-11-16T21:00:00.000-05:00

Thursday I traveled to Nashville for work. I returned Friday late, and Saturday morning, I went to Morningside Market to get a whole hog that had been slaughtered for me by Riverview Farms. I then ran it out to Clarkston, where we dug a hole using the finest traditional Hawaiian methods:

We filled the hole with paper, then kindling, then logs. A lot of logs. Perhaps 80 logs. We then threw a huge pile of rocks on it. And then, to kick it off, a gallon of Coleman white gas.
Then I lit a piece of paper and dropped it onto the fire. It blew up in my face. It singed off my eyelashes, a good bit of my eyebrows, my stubble, and crisped the ends of my hair. But! The fire was alight!

After it burnt down, we put the pig on it. I left-- to go to the Atlanta Downhill Challenge, a Soapbox Derby-type event that I'd entered in with some friends. Elise and I raced over to the course only to find that racing had been suspended, as a racer had flipped, lost his helmet, and scrubbed his face along the hill for a bit. We'd won our first heat though! Here's the car, then our first heat driver (Chewy) and our second heat driver (Kevy):

Kevy ran a tight race and in a true photo finish, we lost. (Click through for a larger shot.)

The next morning (aka Sunday), Elise went to church. Jilly and I ran a few errands and then went to dig up the pig. Jilly found church in her own way!

Jilly praying to her higher power, with communion fresh on her lips

Wow.

2008-11-05T12:08:00.001-05:00

Well, we did it. Now every kid in America really CAN believe he has a shot.

The Close

2008-10-29T05:35:00.001-04:00

Obama / Biden 08

Been VERY busy!

2008-10-27T21:32:00.000-04:00

Elise really crunched hard to knock out a large Bach performance at her church this weekend, as well as create Agnes Scott rehearsal music for while she's in Mass (this week), finishing the data collection portion of her dissertation. With all of that, she hasn't had any time to sit and relax.

At this performance, which was really impressive, I served 140 currywurst. My friend Scott came out and helped me slice them up. I'm gonna get a currywurst slicer -- a "currywurst-schneider", as they call them. A "hand-currywurst-schneider", to be Germanically precise about it. Scott also made his salt taters, which are a no-fail recipe: Potatoes boiled in salt water and then covered in butter. Yum!

Jim Martin

2008-10-18T11:16:00.000-04:00

Bryan reminded me, in a comment in the other post, about Jim Martin.

Perhaps some of you remember the 2002 GA Senate race, where Saxby Chambliss ran ads conflating Max Cleland (who left three of his limbs on the battlefield in Vietnam) with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. A rather scummy and dishonest move, another nail in my personal Republican coffin. It's difficult to describe the mix of astonishment, rage, and sadness that the incident conjures up for me. Well, 2008 is the year we get to send Saxby packin'. Jim Martin is his competition.

I have to be honest, I haven't researched this race much because Martin has had my vote all along. But now it turns out that Saxby's on the run. I'm glad to see it. We need to kick him to the curb.

So when you go to vote for Obama/Biden, punch the button for Jim Martin too.

Oh, and it was not an oversight that I didn't mention McCain's VP pick in the last post.

Two Weeks To Go

2008-10-18T08:18:00.000-04:00

In 2000, I was pretty fed up with the two-party system. I thoroughly detested Bush (mostly due to his father's sending me to Desert Storm to enrich himself) and thanks to the media filter, wasn't so hot on Gore. In 2000, I said "they're both the same" and voted for Harry Browne, Libertarian.

I was flat wrong. I'm not sure I've ever been more wrong.

There are plenty of things I dislike about the national Democratic Party, but there is absolutely nothing I like about the national Republican Party. Not only are they criminal, dismissive, abusive, racist, sexist, and prone to violence, but they're also thoroughly incompetent. Their arguments are based on hating the other guy; they have no vision of forward progress. The best they can offer is to roll back progressive things done by the Democrats.

Now we're here at another election. I'm pulling for the Democrats. It's not just because I hate the Republicans so much; I'm finding myself very, very impressed by Barack Obama. He's eloquent but he also has a very broad view of what's going on, and his analyses tend to be very penetrating and illuminative. Biden's no slouch, either. I disagree with Biden on copyright issues and credit card issues, but even where I disagree, it's obvious that Biden has thought about it a lot. I think Obama's choice of Biden was very savvy.

Don't stay home and sit it out. Go to the polls and punch the button for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. I don't think John McCain is stable enough to be in charge of the nuclear football.

Obama/Biden 08

Heart Attack Sandwich

2008-10-13T10:49:00.000-04:00

Now I love a burger as much as the next guy, but my mind just reels at this one. Check it:

A bacon burger with two bacon grilled cheese sandwiches as the bun:

I stand in awe of the bacony goodness.

Paul Krugman

2008-10-13T08:13:00.000-04:00

Paul Krugman, professor of economics at Princeton and an op-ed writer for the New York Times, has been awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize for economics. Couldn't go to a more deserving recipient -- Paul's perceptive analysis and excellent writing have been invaluable to millions in understanding the current crises. Congratulations, Professor Krugman!

Palin

2008-10-02T22:49:00.000-04:00

They say she won by not losing.

Then they say if you actually go on substance, Biden clearly won.

IMHO, Sarah Palin lost. She is unfit for this office.

OBAMA/BIDEN '08

On the upside...

2008-09-28T13:49:00.000-04:00

I'm a big fan of having stuff custom made. Almost all of you have seen my truck, and many of you have seen my table. I've got a few other treasured items like that.

Well, my friend Maria makes leather stuff. She's starting to turn it to a business, so I decided to ask her for a custom wallet. I wanted a fairly big one, able to take a chain but also able to function without it, that had a big 'BBQ' on it, and maybe some flames. 'Be creative, have fun with it' was my instruction.

She just sent me a picture of the work-in-progress.

I'm excited!

Tough Weekend

2008-09-28T13:33:00.000-04:00

Saturday Elise and I played our first duet in public; at a funeral. It was a bummer; a very friendly and energetic woman who obviously had a wide and good effect everywhere she went. She died of cancer, and I think she was 54 when she died.

Immediately upon returning to the house, I picked up my cellphone (which I'd left behind) to hear a message from my very distraught friend Susan who said her dog wasn't well. Elise and I raced to the vet just in time to see Fisher put down.

Fischer Watkins, b. unknown, d. 9-27-2008.
Rest ye well, fair traveller.

My eyes are tearing up writing about this. Fisher was the sweetest dog on earth, and early on when Elise wanted me to declare Jilly with that title, I refused. When Elise met him, she soon understood why. He was an old man by then, a sweet old man. But I remember the young man too, who was just as sweet with a lot more vigor. Now Jilly has indeed assumed her throne, but it's not the sort of promotion you rejoice over.

And this was all before noon! Our weekend was pretty shot at that point. We went to lunch, went back to our place, and napped the afternoon away. In the evening, we went to a local restaurant where we often meet Susan, and got her favorite dish. We dropped it off to her on our way to a party. At the party my friend Darrin made some awesome beers and bratwursts, but our heart really wasn't in partying. Today, we're all kind of numb and frazzled, and it shows in lots of little ways. We're napping through the afternoon today, too.

Jealous!

2008-09-25T23:23:00.000-04:00

Elise played The EARL before I did. She sang at a Sacred Harp gathering.

Pretty cool. The crowd liked it.

Bob Herbert Nails It

2008-09-23T15:09:00.000-04:00

"Does anyone think it’s just a little weird to be stampeded into a $700 billion solution to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression by the very people who brought us the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression? How about a second opinion?"

mailto:gov.palin@yahoo.com

2008-09-19T07:45:00.000-04:00

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah.

I'm sitting here at the Chevy dealership and of course Fox News is on. They're talking about this egregious invasion of privacy into your Yahoo! account. Someone hacked your password and hijacked the account, and the Fox pundits are wondering why the Secret Service couldn't protect you.

Well, if you'd been using your government-provided official e-mail address, perhaps they could have. But then you'd have been subject to record-keeping laws.

But now you've learned what life on the 'net is like. It's still a little wild, wild west out here. Oh, there's a great veneer of ease and security and lots of eye candy, but in the end, it's just a veneer. Underneath there is a lot of cryptic technology, with millions of workers and, yes, a criminal element. It's a microcosm of our world. It is its own world, when you think about it.

Any time you connect off your computer, you should presume that everything you say is being seen. How far you go determines how many people might see it. Your government is only a few, secure steps away, so you know that they eyes watching it are the authorized ones. But Yahoo!? Well, the whole world can see it.

And now the whole world has.

Obama '08,
Steve

ps. Cute picture of Bristol hammin' it up with Trig on the plane.

Been busy...

2008-09-17T23:31:00.001-04:00

Sorry we haven't been posting a lot lately. Elise has been crushed with a few big projects, and work has had me traveling and working really hard. But it's all good. We're hanging in there.

Barack Obama for President

2008-09-17T23:31:00.000-04:00

Mmmmmm

2008-09-06T14:53:00.001-04:00

Someday I'm going to do a whole pig, luau-style.

Camping In The Back Yard

2008-09-01T10:41:00.000-04:00

My house (which, after renovation, will be OUR HOME) is a couple miles away from Atlanta's only still operating drive-in theater, which has stayed successful because they have a built in crowd in the form of Atlanta's lowbrow scene. These are people who like PBR and tattoos and hot rods and rock-n-roll bands. Each year on Labor Day weekend, these people descend on the drive-in to camp out and strut their stuff. This was my third year going and I had a blast.

Phillip, the guy who painted my car was working like a dog in the days before the show to finish this car. It still smelled of paint.

I brought my barbecue trailer and made ribs, brisket, chicken, bratwurst and pork shoulders. I shared it with around fifty people in all, made a lot of smiles. In return I got morning coffee, bread, chips, beer, this unbelievable fruit cobbler, and a bunch of friends. I gave away about a dozen business cards. I was introduced to the organizer of the car competition who thanked me for feeding his guys and gave me a T-shirt.

Phillip's girlfriend Amanda had a pinstriper paint her gray PT Cruiser with some nice stripes on the hood, and on the back deck, the car's name "Bruiser" and Amanda's favorite dessert, a cupcake. The striper did an AMAZING job, and I wish I'd gotten a picture before the battery ran out. I'm sure one will surface soon enough. The cupcake even had shadows and sprinkles!

Cape Cod Renoir?

2008-08-29T10:23:00.000-04:00

This was a picture I took on Tuesday that reminded me of all the Impressionist paintings that I saw in Paris and Amsterdam. Earlier this week, Cape Cod was the place to be. Check out this sky!

The lighthouse on the left is the tip of Cape Cod (while passing it on a Whale watching boat). On the right you see the Pilgrim Monument of P-Town. Here's a closeup of the Pilgrim Monument.

Sorry I didn't get any pics of the whales. (I was too rapt by the beauty and majesty of these creatures to take pictures.) This vacation was made possible in part by my brother, John. Here he is pictured with Krishan (7) and Vishnu (3.5), two very bright and fun young boys.

Can't you just feel the fun of sand digging and kite flying?

Vishnu dreams of his P-town flying machine:

For John's birthday (while I was there), he got a great board game called "Ticket to Ride." Here he is gaming with his pajama'ed sons (who wake up very early).

Rita, John, Krishan, and Vishnu: thanks for a fun vacation! Much love from Lisey-boo!

What's better than bawdy humor?

2008-08-26T13:21:00.001-04:00

Classical geek humor!

Provincetown

2008-08-24T17:16:00.000-04:00

P-town is an awesome place. And the weather here is perfect (possibly more beautiful than the Pacific Northwest?)...

And I have an awesome family! I will post pics later.

On the road again...

2008-08-21T21:53:00.000-04:00

Bob the Builder...can I finish my dissertation? "YES you can!" (What positive reinforcement to have on one's 3rd of 4 dissertation research interviews.)

When I got back to Boston from the interview today (which was in Hawley), my nephew reminded me-- "That's my bag!" Here are some shots of Western Mass, a very beautiful place.

From lunch in Shelburne Falls...

Peter Blanchette was playing his archguitar (http://www.archguitar.com).

Hot Rods!

2008-08-17T12:10:00.000-04:00

I got a text message from my buddy Phillip (Warning! Myspace w/heavy metal):

Photoshoot tomorrow. Starts at 10 am.

He'd gotten a top photographer to come out and shoot some pictures of models in front of hot rods. I took a picture of my car on the set:

Then, when he loaded the picture HE took into his laptop, I took a snap of the laptop.

I'll eventually get a copy of the final image, and I'll post it up here then.

Nice, eh?

A moment of silence, please.

2008-08-15T12:23:00.001-04:00

For Troy Henson, who passed away this morning. Troy's boyfriend Todd was the guy in Elise's bridal party who didn't sing. Troy was a great guy whose illness kept him from attending our wedding, and we are deeply grieved at his passing.

Here's to you, Troy. Rest in peace.

A week later

2008-08-14T15:03:00.001-04:00

and my computing situation is back to normal. Had some hiccups with the backups that made it take longer than I should have, but:

Apple took my laptop Thursday.
They fixed it in Houston on Friday.
I had it back at 9:00AM Monday. Go, Apple! Quite happy with that.

I figure, the hard drive was kind of small, and they've just replaced it with a fresh one. Why don't I upgrade it? So I took the lappy right to Onyx Consulting and had 'em pop in a 320GB drive. That was done by 3PM.

I went to restore from backup, and it didn't really work out. Turns out the backups were corrupted somehow and the system couldn't read them. So I had to pull all my info off of Elise's computer, where I'd restored it on Thursday, instead of directly from the backup. Kind of messy.

Then I found this article which tells me how to fix the corruption in the backups. So I'm running those steps now, in the hopes that soon I'll have everything running smoothly again.

While I'm a little ticked at the pain it's been to restore, I'm still happy that I have been successful at restoring, with only a few small things lost.

Remembering Deutschland

2008-08-09T21:40:00.001-04:00

Today we all had a dog day. Just rested, played and ate. Steve made currywurst out of some sausages I bought at the store and we had a good time reminiscing about our leisurely days in Germany. Then we really got the bug and went to a German bakery in Stone Mountain and found brotchen. We also got more sausage...and a hot pretzel.

We drove into the Stone Mountain park and let Jilly have some time with the window down (her favorite thing). We happened upon an old mill house, waterwheel and a little waterfall area. We took off our shoes and all put our feet in the moving water (even Jilly). It was like a rustic spa. Jilly was so hot that she laid down in the water!

(Caution: Objects in mirror are sweeter than they appear.)

Rough Day

2008-08-07T15:11:00.001-04:00

I woke up this morning with a 10AM appointment to see the Mac support folks (aka Genius Bar) about my laptop. It crashed a dozen times yesterday, I'd fix it, it'd crash again. Bad stuff. So when I woke this morning, I checked that it had backed up at 7AM, then shut it down and took it in.

At the store, the computer completely refused to boot at all. The guy ran it through some diagnostics and determined that both the hard drive and logic board were failing. So they packed off the ol' Lappy to the service center, to have those parts pulled and swapped.

So at 10:30AM I was without a computer. This wouldn't be a big deal if it were just a personal machine, but my employer has never gotten around to issuing me a work computer and so I was doing that on my Mac via a Parallels machine.

Nice, eh?

Well, I'll be on Elise's for a few days while I wait for work to get me something. Hopefully I'll hear tomorrow.

The Barbecue Song

2008-08-05T20:07:00.000-04:00

MAN, I wish I'd written this one. It's great. The only thing I disagree with is the characterization of Alabama by the mayonnaise sauce. I've found some magnificent sauces in Alabama (see: Dreamland.)

But it's hilarious!

Videos

2008-08-04T20:20:00.000-04:00

I guess I never really posted this to the blog, but we put together a ten-minute photo montage set to the Sigur Rós song "Viðrar vel til loftárása", which had just the right progression for the mood; searching, yearning, soaring, triumphant, and then at the end, getting a little less structured, less planned, etc. Enjoy it.

Also, I have some experimental music here. I got this software called Reason, and remixed Arnold's 2004 convention speech into a song "Blinded By Hate". I played it for Elise, and she suggested I make a video for it. So I whipped up this in iMovie; my first attempt. Kind of fun, but be warned, lefty content.

2008-08-03T21:09:00.000-04:00

Today at church was our 3rd annual Blessing of the Animals. Jilly got blessed. And she is quite a blessing, even though she attempted to steal more than her share of the doggie eucharist.

Belgian chocolates

2008-07-31T11:18:00.000-04:00

Over the course of our honeymoon, Steve and I often wondered what country Jilly would have liked best. We speculated Germany, because of the wurst. However, Jilly has reached a different conclusion...

Yes. On Tuesday night, Jilly managed to open her box of Belgian chocolate doggie training bones. She ate almost the ENTIRE box. That's at least 8 months worth of treats, if we gave her one a day.

How is Jilly, you might ask?

Most proud of herself and feeling fine. She is, we've confirmed, just a large stomach with a tiny head who's tickled to be back home.

Picture caption: "Yo quiero Belgian chocolates!"

Moving Cats

2008-07-31T08:58:00.001-04:00

This week I helped Calvin and Claire move...

...and Cindy, the owner of these lovely cats. The Hintons love their new home!

(I didn't get a shot of Clementine, who wouldn't come out of the closet.)

Busy

2008-07-28T20:38:00.000-04:00

Several things have recently made life busy:

1) Jilly is back and has been requiring much love.

2) My parents have been visiting. This condo is very small for 4 adults and 2 dogs.

3) Wedding madness. Thank goodness not mine; a family friend. I sang at it Saturday. Steve donned a suit and looked very handsome.

4) I got a new job. Yes, I already have two...but now I have another one. I am the new interim Director of Choral Activities at Agnes Scott College.

More soon.

More makings!

2008-07-23T10:43:00.001-04:00

I made my first batch of cheese yesterday from these instructions. It tastes decent so far; it'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

I also made pickles last week; I wrote a column at the People's Regime on how to do it. They came out pretty good, perhaps a shade on the salty side.

Jilly is only a few hours away!

Sooooooooooooooon!!!

2008-07-21T20:14:00.000-04:00

Jilly,

Only 48 hours, Jilly, and you will be here! Back home with mamma and daddy Steve!

Jilly, you sweet sweet doggie, you. Why do you always make demon eyes at the camera?

Love,
Mamma